New Releases for October 21, 2014

October 20, 2014

CDs + Vinyl:

The 2 Bears – The Night Is Young CD/2xLP (Kartel/Southern Fried Records)

Two years ago The 2 Bears dropped a debut album that re-invigorated a genre and gathered music fans in the open embrace of house music with Be Strong, an album rooted in their love for London. The Night Is Young takes on a more global vision. With a love for their home city still at its heart, the album pulls influences and experiences from across the world of dance music, drawing deeply from their trip to Africa last summer.

The Aislers Set – How I Learned to Write Backwards [Reissue/2002] CD/LP+MP3 (Slumberland/Suicide Squeeze)

The Aislers Set occupy an enviable place in the pop pantheon. Brimming with drunken romanticism, sharp pop sensibilities, and timeless melodies, The Aislers Set reveled in the history of great pop, spiking their classicist ‘60s-tinged tunes with post-punk energy and originality of bands like the Fire Engines and The June Brides. Every song is a meticulously constructed sound world, where the arrangement and instrumentation sublimely and uncannily bring each tune to completeness. Unfortunately they stopped playing and recording together by 2004 due to life commitments. (Vinyl version pressed on HQ-180gm green wax.)

Allo Darlin’ – We Come From The Same Place CD (Slumberland)

The third full-length recording from the much loved Anglo-Australian four-piece is made up of smart, beautiful pop music, with lyrics that resonate with experience and melodies that chime, echo and soar.

Elisa Ambrosio – The Immortalist CD/LP (Drag City)

“Elisa Ambrogio, lead singer of the art-rock heavyweight Magik Markers, usually isn’t one to get too sentimental. But her new solo album, The Immoralist, includes some heart-wrenching songs, including its arresting opening track, ‘Superstitious.’ — NPR

Bastard Sapling – Instinct Is Forever CD/2xLP (Gilead Media)

Bastard Sapling has ventured to push their other-worldly black metal creation further into the shattered abyss with their new album, Instinct Is Forever.

Bear’s Den – Islands CD/LP (Communion)

Andrew Davie (vocals, guitar), Joey Haynes (vocals, banjo) and Kevin Jones (vocals, drums) make up Bear’s Den. The London-based trio played music in various incarnations before officially forming the band in 2012. They developed a cult following in their short existence as a result of their writing, harmonies, DIY approach, and extensive worldwide touring. “When one of the first things you hear on an album is the unmistakeable twang of a banjo, is it wrong to assume that it’s bound to be a dreadful listen? A press release name-checking (touring buddies) Mumford And Sons doesn’t exactly help matters (for me at least, it might do wonders for you). Fortunately Bear’s Den pull it out of the back on Islands, delivering a wholly satisfying, multi-layered folk-pop record which exhibits considerable promise.” – Drowned In Sound

Blaze Ya Dead Homie – Gang Rags: Reborn CD (Psychopathic)

Fifth album from the hip-hop gangsta/horrorcore rapper from Mt Clemons, Michigan.

Boaz – Intuition CD (Rostrum)

Debut album from the respected Pittsburgh rapper. Features Mac Miller, Jadakiss, Styles P and Junior Reid.

The British singing sensation returns with a covers album of songs themed on inspiration, including Pink Floyd’s ”Wish You Were Here” and Simon & Garfunkel’s ”Bridge Over Troubled Water” as well as John Lennon’s ”Imagine.”

The sound of The Budos may be challenging for some to describe, but to the band, “Staten Island instrumental Afro-soul” means internalizing such seemingly disparate influences as the Cairo Jazz Band, J.C. Davis, Mulatu Astatke, and Black Sabbath and coming together to form a mind-bending combination of rhythm and melody. Burnt Offering drips with the psychedelic sounds of early heavy metal fused with the tight-knit propulsion of Fela Kuti, and “sparked by their love of Black Sabbath and Pentagram.

Can’s 10th studio album, Out Of Reach, was unavailable on any official format since its original release in 1978. It is one of their lesser-known albums, due in large part to the fact that the bassist Holger Czukay left the band while this album was being recorded, and drummer Jaki Liebezeit had a reduced role. Can’s self-titled eleventh album was lost during its initial release amongst the punk explosion in 1979, but it features classic tracks like “Sodom,” and “Can Be.” Rite Time is Can’s twelfth and last studio album, originally released in 1986. It saw the band reunite with their original vocalist, Malcolm Mooney.

Cancers – Fatten The Leeches CD/LP/Cassette (Dead Broke)

Produced by Jack Endino, Fatten The Leeches is the first release from former members of Unfun and Dead Dog.

The Chills – Stand By CD (Fire)

To celebrate the first European tour in 20 years from Dunedin’s finest, Fire Records are pleased to announce a special tour release, Stand By. Featuring two never before release tracks, “Find Your Own Way Home” and a cover of “Solitary Man” (available via a special download), all audio is remastered especially for this special tour.

Cold War Kids – Hold My Home CD/LP (Downtown)

“The last few years have seen Long Beach quartet Cold War Kids undergo some pretty sizeable changes. The departure of founding guitarist Jonnie Russell in 2012 and drummer Matt Aviero (whose place in the band remains somewhat open-ended) ultimately didn’t prove to be that massive a setback with 2013’s Dear Miss Lonelyhearts keeping the self-professed ‘soul/punk’ mission alive and well. Many bands would have immediately folded with an exodus of half its founding lineup, but thankfully Cold War Kids are not one of them. It could be the go-with-the-flow attitude of their native Long Beach (usually synonymous with such… let’s say ‘laid back’ icons as Sublime and the one-and-only Snoop Dogg) but the stresses of a potential breakup have been pretty expertly avoided with a couple of Modest Mouse albums who bring something totally new and refreshingly different to the Cold War Kids sound and Hold My Home proves to be a pretty great record for it” – Renowned For Sound. (Available on CD and on clear vinyl.)

Neil Diamond – Melody Road CD/2xLP (Capitol)

Neil Diamond’s new album was written and recorded mainly in Los Angeles and marks his first original studio release in six years and first on Capitol Records. Also a first for Diamond, is working with acclaimed producers Don Was (Bob Dylan, Elton John, The Rolling Stones) and Jacknife Lee (The Black Keys, U2, Taylor Swift)

Dope Body – Lifer CD/LP (Drag City)

On Lifer, Dope Body redefines the aural yawp they have been venting for some time, honing wild windmills into surgical strikes, their gut-busting repulsion-sound continuing to expand without losing any of the feral energy that made a crazed reputation in the already-insane Baltimore music and arts underground.

Baxter Dury – It’s A Pleasure CD/LP (PIAS America)

Ian Dury’s only son didn’t think he’d follow his famous father’s footsteps into music. He thought it would be too easy, an obvious expectation. Alas, Baxter Dury found himself writing songs and crafting a music career by age 30, but the elder Dury didn’t live to see it. Following on from Dury’s acclaimed 2010 album Happy Soup, It’s A Pleasure is a series of conflicted emotions, stark drum beats, comic vignettes and strung out synths coming together to present one man’s wry take on the battle with existence. It’s metaphysics meets morose disco.

Elliott Brood – Work And Love CD (Paper Bag)

New album from Toronto trio Elliott Brood, the follow-up to Days Into Years, which won a Juno Award in 2013 for Roots & Traditional Album Of The Year. For Work And Love, Elliott Brood withdrew to a farmhouse in Bath, Ontario where they recorded nine songs in two weeks with producer Ian Blurton (The Weakerthans, Amy Millan) — their first time working with an outside producer. The result is their most personal and urgent album to date, with rock influences that nod as much to Neil Young & Crazy Horse, as much as Richard Buckner and Whiskeytown.

Recorded at the Lefevre Sound Studio in Atlanta, GA and privately-issued on Robert Lester Folsom’s own Abacus label, Music And Dreams brings the ideas presented on Ode into clear, polished relief. Folsom provides a homespun challenge to then-established artists as far-flung as Todd Rundgren, Neil Young, and KC & The Sunshine Band, albeit with touches of guitar fuzz ripping (“Jericho”) that credit his upbringing from the decade prior. Had the record any manner of major label backing, it could’ve been a hit; as it stands, Music And Dreams has quietly amassed a cult following. (Vinyl version of ode to a rainy day due November 11.)

Forever Came Calling – What Matters Most CD/LP (Pure Noise)

New album from the California pop/punk band. (New Found Glory, Hit The Lights, The Color Morale).

Aretha Franklin – Sings The Great Diva Classics CD (RCA)

Aretha’s unsurpassed vocal styling permeates on popular diva classics ranging from Barbra Streisand’s “People,” and Gladys Knight’s “Midnight Train To Georgia,” to Alicia Keys’ “No One,” and a mash up of Gloria Gaynor’s “I Will Survive” and Destiny’s Child’s “I’m A Survivor,” and more. Also includes her version of Adele’s “Rolling In The Deep.”

This fifth installment of the GarciaLive archival series presents the Jerry Garcia Band’s New Year’s Eve 1975 performance at the Keystone in Berkeley, California. Flying under the radar, this unannounced/unadvertised performance holds the distinction as the JGB’s only performance on New Year’s — an occasion typically reserved for the Grateful Dead. This performance also marks the legendary Nicky Hopkins’ final performance with the group.

Gates – Bloom & Breathe CD/LP (Pure Noise)

New Jersey-based alt/post-rock group Gates present their debut full-length record.

Goapele – Strong As Glass CD (Jordan House/BMG Primary Wave)

Strong As Glass mixes upbeat tracks with powerful ballads, hard-hitting drums with classic Goapele vocals, and even a duet with one of R&B’s top veterans.

The Hollies – The Hollies At 50 3xCD (Rhino)

50 remastered tracks, including big hits, classic singles, album tracks, live favorites, mostly stereo masters and a brand new recording.

Horse Feathers – So It Is With Us CD/LP (Kill Rock Stars)

Some quick true/false facts about the band Horse Feathers and their new album, So It Is With Us:

The record was partially recorded in a barn in a beautiful pastoral setting in rural Oregon (true, but hasn’t everybody done this now?) 2. The band lives in Portland, OR (also true, and they are consciously and unconsciously living breathing stereotypes just like the ones portrayed in Portlandia) 3. Horse Feathers last album charted on Billboard by selling fewer records than they had in the past (true, but maybe more a comment on the music industry as a whole?) 4. For this album, the band was influenced by the following: Pentangle, Talk Talk, Paul Simon, The Band, Van Morrison, John Wesley Harding era Bob Dylan, Desire era Bob Dylan, and Abner Jay (not what you would have guessed, right?)

Ben Howard – I Forget Where We Are CD (Republic)

“I Forget Where We Were begins, and Ben Howard’s deft guitar strokes come at us in stealthy and measured glides, like the moves of a chess player. We find Howard moving on from 2011’s Every Kingdom, seguing from the sing-along choruses and positive gushes of tracks from that album like ‘Keep Your Head Up’. Instead, Howard has become even more introverted and personal than we saw on the last album with ‘Black Flies.’ By introverted and personal, we’re not exactly talking Charlie Fink-esque second album failed relationship analysis. But Howard’s second album is unquestionably a serious affair” – Drowned In Sound. Vinyl version due October 27.

Following a successful stint as the creative ringleader of glam rock forebears Mott The Hoople, Ian Hunter struck out on his own in 1975 with a self-titled solo debut album. For his second album All American Alien Boy, he surrounded himself with top-notch session players as well as some impressive rock royalty, that included everyone from journeyman drummer Aynsley Dunbar to jazz bass wizard Jaco Pastorius. The resulting album was a mixture of conventional Mott The Hoople-style rock and sonic experiments.

“Billy Idol’s recent autobiography, Dancing With Myself, candidly traces his trajectory from Bromley punk pin-up to excess-all-areas ‘80s stadium rocker. Having swapped pills for Pilates, his first album in eight years attempts the difficult passage from lovably ludicrous rocker to confessional crooner. Now 60, Idol’s rebel yell might be more restrained – and occasionally is actively straining – these days, but he sounds convincingly wistful on the slow, brooding likes of ‘Ghosts In My Guitars.’ Elsewhere, old-school arena punk rockers such as ‘Bitter Pill’ and ‘Postcards From The Past’ attempt to restart the Idolmania era.” – The Guardian

Inspiral Carpets – Inspiral Carpets CD/LP (Cherry Red)

The Inspiral Carpets – along with the Stone Roses and the Happy Mondays – made their name as part of the whole ‘Madchester’ scene, with a string of classic singles and a lucrative line in iconic T-shirts. Between 1989 and 1995, the band notched up 15 hits and four Top 20 albums. In 2003, they re-formed and have been playing live ever since. In 2011, they reunited with original singer Stephen Holt. In September, the band unveil their first new album of studio material for two decades, simply entitled Inspiral Carpets.

Jakob – Sines CD/2xLP (The Mylene Sheath)

Sines is as much soundscape as rock-show — an echo of the expansive surroundings of the band’s native Hawke’s Bay, personifying rough seas and sweeping landscapes. Each element in the vigorous trio that comprises Jakob is as essential to the wall-of-sound as its counterparts — Jeff Boyle’s lush and commanding guitar work spirals delicately before a wide explosion, the bass of Maurice Beckett growls and pulses like an electrical current, and the powerful surge of Jason Johnston’s drumming cascades between thunderous treatment, precise, driving beats and eerie silences.

Jukebox The Ghost – Jukebox The Ghost CD (Yep Roc)

On the follow-up to its critically acclaimed album Safe Travels, Jukebox The Ghost is at it again with a new collection of the band’s signature brand of infectious pop songs. Vinyl version due November 18.

Kiesza – Sound Of A Woman CD (Island)

Kiesza’s sound is as diverse as her resume. Having served as a reservist in the Royal Canadian Navy and competed in Miss Universe Canada, she played folk ditties before gravitating toward the electronic grooves of her debut album. The release is anchored by the breakout single “Hideaway,” a pulsing house number that hearkens back to the genre’s early-’90s heyday, with Kiesza providing the sultry vocals. Vinyl version due October 27.

Mark Lanegan Band – Phantom Radio CD/LP (Vagrant)

New album produced and co-written by Alain Johannes (Queens Of The Stone Age). For Phantom Radio Lanegan takes a slightly different direction, incorporating drum machines and electronics. British guitarist Duke Garwood assisted with “I Am The Wolf,” violinist Sietse van Gorkom co-wrote “The Killing Season,” and Lanegan’s girlfriend Shelley Brien added vocals to the set’s “Floor Of The Ocean.”

Annie Lennox – Nostalgia CD/LP (Blue Note)

Annie Lennox pays tribute to some of the greatest artists of the 20th century – including Hoagy Carmichael, Duke Ellington, George Gershwin, Billie Holiday and Screamin’ Jay Hawkins – and interprets compositions that have moved her, stripping them down to their emotional and musical core and making them her own.

Little Big Town – Pain Killer CD (Capitol Nashville)

Sixth studio album from the Grammy-winning country group, featuring the single “Day Drinking.”

Logic – Under Pressure CD (Def Jam)

Debut album from the Maryland-based rapper. Under Pressure was executive-produced by No I.D., with production coming from Visionary Music Group’s in-house producer 6ix and Logic himself. Other producers who contributed to the album include DJ Dahi, S1, M-Phazes, Kevin Randolph, DJ Khalil, Dun Deal, Alkebulan, Arthur McArthur, Tae Beast, Terrace Martin, Skhye Hutch, Rob Knox, Swiff D. Guests include Childish Gambino and Big Sean. Available in Regular and Deluxe editions. Deluxe due November 4.

The Luxembourg Signal – The Luxembourg Signal CD (Shelflife)

Ten track album from former members of Aberdeen, Donda, and Trembling Blue Stars of perfect pop songs, vintage shoegaze roots, and dark, noiser explorations. Features guest appearances by Dale Crover (Melvins) and John Girgus (Aberdeen). “Prepare for shimmery, ‘90s-inspired guitars, a smattering of distortion, and a splash of sweetness.”—Under The Radar

Two mainstays of The Small Faces team up one last time for an ill-fated album that has been considered nothing but myth for decades. Recorded in the early 80’s, and never-before officially released until now.

Mineral – 1994-1998: The Complete Collection 2xCD (Arena Rock)

Collects both albums from the seminal Texas emo band, plus 10 bonus songs. (Vinyl reissues of Mineral’s two albums are also available this week.)

An uncompromising genre classic, Drastic Measures, Drastic Movement mixed hard-edged electronica with modernist noise, and shared much in common with contemporaries Cabaret Voltaire, Suicide, The Normal and early Human League. The nine bonus tracks on Disc One include all three cuts from the debut Minny Pops EP Kojak, and a 2003 remix of “Dolphins Spurt.” In addition there are 12 minutes of vintage audio-visual clips of five songs performed at the Amsterdam Filmacademie in 1979, playable on your PC in QuickTime format. This edition also adds a bonus disc with an entire live performance of the album recorded at Dansmakers, Amsterdam on March 11, 2012 during their 30th anniversary tour.

Modern Vices – Modern Vices CD/LP (Autumn Tone)

Modern Vices is a self-proclaimed dirty doo-wop group from Chicago. Noir in tone, their sound resides somewhere between late ’50s croon and wet garage rock snarl.

Thurston Moore – The Best Day CD/LP+MP3 (Matador)

“In the years since Thurston Moore’s 2011 album, Demolished Thoughts, the framework surrounding the former Sonic Youth frontman has collapsed: the US alt-rock godfather relocated to the artisan bread capital of east London, and his aloof cool was skewed by his very public split from Kim Gordon. After the almost-unplugged quietude of that last album, here Moore retreats to the comfort of noise – that odd blanket of distortion – which is ramped up by the presence of My Bloody Valentine’s Deb Googe and Sonic Youth drummer Steve Shelley.” – The Guardian

Mott – Drive On [Reissue/1975] CD (Rock Candy)

Digitally remastered edition of this 1975 album from the British band made up of former members of Mott The Hoople. Having gone from a struggling club band to wider international success, it came as something of a shock when leader Ian Hunter pulled the band apart by quitting in late 1974, taking flamboyant guitarist Mick Ronson with him to peruse a solo career. For the other members of Mott The Hoople this could have spelled disaster but fortunately their resolve and determination overcame all obstacles resolving to carry on with a revised line up.

Nicked Drake – Wraiths (by Gareth Dickson) CD (Scissor Tail)

A CD of reverent and very beautiful cover versions album by Gareth Dickson of his favorite Nick Drake songs. His own songs spill with a discreet lulling beauty and when he “Does Drake,” you’ll realize he’s paying homage to someone painfully dear to him in the vast realm of popular music.

Debut full-length album from Oh! Pears aka Seattle-via-Philadelphia’s Corey Duncan, formerly a member of Pattern Is Movement. An orchestral pop odyssey, Wild Part Of The World sounds out the culmination of Duncan’s musical and personal discoveries from his years spent in his adopted home of Philadelphia. The album was recorded two weeks before he moved back to his birthplace of Seattle, WA. The record is a walk through the menagerie of Duncan’s mind, from the warm, head bobbing pop of ”It’s Real” and ”Under The Olive Trees,” to the heartfelt 1930s balladry of ”Natasha” and ”Dark and Muted Eyes,” to the dark classical/modern R&B influenced ”Fill Your Lungs” and ”Helena.”

Mike Oldfield – The Studio Albums 1992-2003 8xCD (Rhino)

The Studio Albums 1992-2003 gathers together the eight albums released on WB starting with 1992’s follow-up to the seminal Tubular Bells and ending again with that same album but this time the 2003 re-recording. In between are two further TB-related albums – Tubular Bells III (1998) and The Millennium Bell (1999). The other four albums are 1994’s The Songs Of Distant Earth, Voyager from 1996, Guitars (1999) and Tr3s Lunas, which was issued in 2002. The albums will be packaged in card sleeves and housed in a clamshell box.

Oozing Wound – Earth Suck CD/LP+MP3 (Thrill Jockey)

Oozing Wound is a thrash trio featuring long-time veterans of Chicago’s underground scene. Earth Suck is the explosive follow-up to the band’s breakout debut Retrash, which earned them praise from the New York Times, Pitchfork, Decibel, and more. (Initial vinyl copies pressed on pink wax.) “A band whose combination of sneering misanthropy, absurdist humour and more killer hooks than Leatherface and his extended clan sound like an acute response to our hell-in-our-cheap-knockoff-handbasket times.” — Metal Hammer

The Pop Group – Cabinet Of Curiosities CD (Freaks R Us)

The Pop Group – Curiosities 2xCD (Freaks R Us)

After spending over a year collating original singles, albums and previously unreleased studio and live recordings, The Pop Group created a limited box set containing albums We Are Time and the new compilation Cabinet Of Curiosities + 36 page perfect bound book + bookmark + badge.

The Pop Group – We Are Time [Reissue/1980] CD/2xLP (Freaks R Us)

Digitally remastered edition of this 1980 album from the post-punk pioneers. We Are Time, named after one of their most infamous onslaughts and originally released on vinyl, has been remastered from original tapes. Of the early studio and live recordings that comprise the album, frontman Mark Stewart says “The Pop Group was mutating so fast right from the start that it was crucial to document those first experiments with this compilation. We Are Time is really ‘the’ teenage Pop Group album. It’s full of defiance and the material demonstrates the band’s staunch independence and our really early DIY ethic before the studio became another instrument.”

The definitive Primus line-up Les Claypool, guitarist Larry LaLonde, and drummer Tim Alexander – is back together and set to release their first full-length studio set in nearly 20 years. “The idea was to combine the Frog Brigade and Primus, and do this record, says Claypool. I think like a good portion of the planet, we were all pretty put off by the remake of the Willy Wonka movie – the Tim Burton version. I really wanted to pay homage to a film [1971’s Willy Wonka & The Chocolate Factory, starring Gene Wilder] that was very important to me as a kid and very influential to me musically. So that’s what we did. And as opposed to just going in and recording the songs and playing them the way they are in the film, we twisted them up a bit…twisted them up a lot. The notion wasn’t so much to go in and redo the soundtrack note for note as much as it was to utilize the classic elements of the music yet try to reflect some of the darker undertones of the Roald Dahl books, because when you read those books, there is an eerie and somewhat menacing aspect implied.”

Royal Trux – Pound For Pound [Reissue/2000] CD/LP (Drag City)

Reissue of the final studio album from Royal Trux. Pound For Pound had the right mix of contempo and classic, rural amd urban for the swiftly-tilting times of the year 2000, as Royal Trux had been flying the flag (well, actually a bunch of different flags) in the name of rock & roll since the beginning — manipulating styles to get across to certain crowds and mindsets. Two interests at the same time: rock & roll, and the short con.

Skanfrom – Postcards CD/LP (Suction)

Skanfrom is Roger Semsroth from Berlin, best known for his purist minimal techno project Sleeparchive. In 2002, Skanfrom released his debut album on Suction Records, Hand Picked Fragments. A lot has changed since 2002, but in Skanfrom world, 2014 is very much the same. Postcards is full of the same pure and melodic electro(pop) that made Skanfrom so special to us from the start. As it was in the beginning, Skanfrom produced Postcards using little more than his beloved Roland SH-101; this classic vintage monosynth, with it’s minimal layout and pure analogue tone, remains the ideal instrument for his enduring, synthetic sound.

Sleater-Kinney – Sleater-Kinney [Reissue/1995] CD/LP+MP3 (Sub Pop)

Sleater-Kinney – Call The Doctor [Reissue/1996] CD/LP+MP3 (Sub Pop)

Sleater-Kinney – Dig Me Out [Reissue/1997] CD/LP+MP3 (Sub Pop)

Sleater-Kinney – All Hands On The Bad One [Reissue/2000] LP+MP3 (Sub Pop)

Sleater-Kinney – One Beat [Reissue/2002] CD/LP+MP3 (Sub Pop)

Sleater-Kinney – The Woods [Reissue/2005] 2xLP+MP3 (Sub Pop)

Sleater-Kinney – Start Together 1994-2008 7xLP+MP3 (Sub Pop)

Remastered reissues now available. Sleater-Kinney were known for their feminist, left-leaning politics, and were an integral part of the riot grrrl and indie rock scenes in the Pacific Northwest. (The Start Together vinyl box set compiles all seven of Sleater-Kinney’s critically-acclaimed albums, plus a 44-page hardcover book and an art print. Each LP is on a different color of vinyl, and this box is the only way to get these albums on color wax.)

Slipknot – 5: The Gray Chapter CD/2xCD (Roadrunner)

Stretching from grief to anger and beyond, 5: The Gray Chapter touches on the most difficult period of the band’s career and serves as a tribute to a lost friend and bandmate. Available in Regular and Deluxe editions. Deluxe adds two bonus tracks.

Like Iggy Pop’s great lost Nashville record or the legendary demos for the Strokes masterpiece that never was, this recording is full of catchy courage, significant low notes, bedroom rhythms, hooks, and so on, all of which make for an impossible amount of pleasure. This Swearing At effort towers heads and squirrels above whatever that was you were just listening to.

T.I. – Paperwork CD (Sony)

Executive produced by Pharrell Williams, Paperwork features guest appearances from Young Thug, Iggy Azalea, Skylar Grey, Chris Brown, Usher, The-Dream, Pharrell and others. Available in Regular and Deluxe editions. Deluxe adds four bonus tracks. Vinyl version due November 17.

The innovative work of cellist-composer-electronic-pioneer Arthur Russell is honored with this new tribute album featuring 26 tracks by more than 20 artists, including: Hot Chip, Sufjan Stevens, Phosphorescent, Blood Orange, The Autumn Defense and Lonnie Holley. Master Mix embodies the genre-defying, experimental spirit that defined Russell’s work. Living in the East Village from the ‘70s until his untimely death in 1992 at age 40 from AIDS-related causes, Russell moved effortlessly between the city’s various music scenes, recording disco beats alongside Nicky Siano one night, and the next, crafting slow, haunting tracks in his apartment with his cello and idiosyncratic warbling voice. The New Yorker called his work “stranded between lands real and imagined: the street and the cornfield; the soft bohemian New York and the hard Studio 54 New York; the cheery bold strokes of pop and the liberating possibilities of abstract art.” Through his collaborations, he earned the admiration of artists like Allen Ginsberg, David Byrne and Philip Glass, who said of Russell’s music: “It does not submit to formula, but subverts the formula.”

Various Artists – The Peter Out Wave [2012] CD (Peter Out)

Nowadays, many music-scenes/subcultures have their own take on post-punk, whilst not always being aware of the similar music going on in the coexisting scenes. This compilation is a document of the most interesting current bands and in the ‘80s influenced dark scene, with 17 bands from nine countries. It’s reminiscent of the ‘80s post-punk/new wave compilations that had quite a diverse mix of music, yet were still in unison.

Various Artists – Tru Thoughts 15th Anniversary 2xCD (Tru Thoughts)

This double-CD compilation features tracks picked by co-owner and A&R Robert Luis from the past, present and future of his thriving label’s eclectic catalogue. This celebration of independent artistic talent encompasses the early leftfield electronica of Bonobo and Quantic’s trailblazing world explorations, Alice Russell’s powerhouse soul and New Orleans’ iconic Hot 8 Brass Band; UK dons like Rodney P and Zed Bias, through to the stars of tomorrow, with Harleighblu’s vocal prowess and cutting edge production from Lost Midas, Titeknots and Werkha. The comp also sneaks in some exclusives, including the Wickaman D&B remix of Wrongtom Meets Deemas J’s “Jump+Move+Rock” and a new rework by Paul SG of Bonobo’s classic “Terrapin.”

Scott Walker + Sunn O))) – Soused CD/2xLP (4AD)

When Sunn O))) first approached Scott Walker about appearing on their 2009 album Monoliths & Dimensions, they didn’t know what it would actually lead to. Four years on, Scott returned with something even more enticing, collaborating on Soused, a body of work he was writing with them in mind. Recorded in London in early 2014 and produced by Scott Walker and long-time ally Peter Walsh with the assistance of musical director Mark Warman, Soused is a five-track, 50-minute record that cements the status of both acts’ wide-reaching and otherworldly renown.

Jesse Ware – Tough Love CD/2xLP (Interscope)

“A few months after Jessie Ware properly arrived with her commanding debut album, 2012’s lush, mature Devotion, she dropped a cover of 1990s R&B group Brownstone’s ‘If You Love Me,’ a collaboration with production duo BenZel, who were then known as ‘Japanese teenagers.’ In actuality, the duo’s a team-up between London post-bass producer Two Inch Punch and mega-producer Benny Blanco (Rihanna, Katy Perry), and the tricky pair have teamed again with Ware on her latest single, ‘Tough Love,’ along with handling executive producer duties on her forthcoming Devotion follow-up” [Best New Track] – Pitchfork. Available in Regular and Deluxe editions. Deluxe adds four bonus tracks.

Wrekmeister Harmonies – Then It All Came Down CD/LP+MP3 (Thrill Jockey)

Then It All Came Down is J.R Robinson’s second long-form composition as Wrekmeister Harmonies. Employing an enormous ensemble of some of Chicago’s best talents in the metal and experimental communities, including Wrest (Leviathan), members of Indian, Corrections House, Codeine, Twilight, Yakuza, Anatomy Of Habit, Mind Over Mirrors, Bloodiest, and Ryley Walker, Robinson has created a work that is equally gorgeous and menacing. (Initial vinyl copies pressed on green wax. The CD edition also includes 2013’s You’ve Always Meant So Much To Me.)

Young Statues – The Flatlands Are Your Friends CD/LP (Run For Cover)

“Philadelphia-based Young Statues recorded their second full-length album, The Flatlands Are Your Friend, in self-imposed solitude in a studio in Athens, Georgia, free from distraction. This is their first full-length album as a quartet, following a self-titled 2011 LP, as well as the 2013 EP Age Isn’t Ours. The entirety of The Flatlands Are Your Friend was recorded with all four members in the room at once, creating an untouched, vintage sound. The first single off the album, ‘Run The River Dry,’ is a guitar-heavy track with a military marching beat and distant yet distinct vocals, all knitted together by sparingly used synths and echoing guitars.” — Stereogum

This Week’s Vinyl Exclusives:

Jhené Aiko – Souled Out LP (Def Jam)

Recently released on CD – now available on vinyl. “There’s something admirable about truly stepping out on your own, as your own person. You’re leaving behind that helping hand, that ‘co-sign,’ and pursing your dreams, able to stand without the crutch. Los Angeles native Jhene Aiko has gained the support of numerous high-level, high-visibility artists, such as Drake, Childish Gambino, No-ID (producer and label boss at Artium/Def Jam), as well as TDE representatives (and former frequent collaborators) Kendrick Lamar and Ab-Soul. In a very bold and courageous move, she has decided to use her debut album, the soul-bearing Souled Out, as her first foray as a truly standalone act.” – Hot New Hip Hop

Vinyl reissues of the first and second albums by the group formed by members of SF’s Henry’s Dress and Go Sailor. First time available on vinyl in over a decade.

Asylum – Asylum 7” (Vinyl Conflict)

Debut from this Richmond, VA-based group, delivering some of the most devastating and precisely executed hardcore punk you’ll hear these days. A brooding hardcore assault powered by the driving rhythm of Motörhead, layered with buzzsaw guitars that bring to mind classic Scandinavian bands, and delivered w/the nonstop intensity of Discharge.

Black Rituals – Of Deconstruction LP (Sige)

Black Spirituals is the Oakland, CA based duo of Zachary James Watkins on electronics and strings and Marshall Trammell on percussion. This is the band’s debut full length after cassette releases on Sixtyhurts and The Tapeworm. Of Deconstruction emerges from a landscape of sameness fully-formed and armed to the teeth with its improvised , ritualistic, flux-like combination of live electronics and acoustic instruments.

The Body/Sand Worm – Split LP+MP3 (Thrill Jockey)

The Body and Sandworm contribute full sides of brand new material, exhibiting the diversity of heaviness in the Providence community. This is the debut release from Sandworm, an explosive duo that plays raw and elemental black metal. Clear vinyl.

Recently released on CD – now available on vinyl. This Oklahoma band crafts sing-along anthems that combine punk and garage-rock, combining the best elements of both genres: raw guitar chords and energy, plus DIY sentiment, but with hi-fi production.

Cave – Release LP (Drag City)

This vinyl-only release compiles jams from the sweltering heart of Cave that didn’t make it onto their three LPs and three EPs. Like the best singles, Cave’s sides here have singular qualities that songs on albums can’t, as they unwind themselves over 30 or more minutes in time. A couple of the “Release” tracks rock more extreme too, which the Cave-head will find in awesome contrast to the refined production of Neverendless and Threace.

Wyatt Cenac – Brooklyn LP (Other Music)

New standup comedy LP from NY-based stand-up comedian/actor/writer best known for his work on The Daily Show With Jon Stewart. Vinyl-only release.

Vinyl reissue of the second album from the prog/hard rock/alternative outfit.

John Wesley Coleman – Chicken Woman 7” (Urinal Cake)

John Wesley Coleman – Love That You Own LP (Burger)

Austin weirdo by way of Irving, Texas—John Wesley Coleman is a renaissance man of sorts, having done time in The Golden Boys, as well as performing stand up comedy, painting, writing books and movie scripts, and amassing a body of solo material that makes most bands look like total slouches. The man offers up to you two tracks of desert-haunted psychedelic rock n’ roll filtered through a true storytellers sieve.

Julie Cruise – Floating Through The Night [Reissue/1989] LP (Plain)

HQ-180gm vinyl reissue of Cruise’s 1989 album, featuring songs written and produced by composer Angelo Badalamenti and film director David Lynch. Essential for any Twin Peaks fan.

Original sealed copies of this pioneering cut-up work from 1982 by self-taught legend. One side is a plunderphonic montage that contrasts hysterical dialogue from early 1980s soap operas with quieter, bland remarks, punctuated by library music jingles and short enigmas that appeal to one’s sense of paranoia. The other side-long track also traffics in found sound, this time snatched from instructional salesmanship LPs and television programs, edited into a depiction of people as merchandise living lives that oscillate between buying and selling.

Look for “De De Lind” on the internet and you will find mainly two results: those related to a Playboy magazine model very much in vogue in the ‘60s, and those concerning the eponymous Italian progressive rock meteor band. A band that surely deserved more success at the time—their LP was released in 1973—but that was largely ignored, apart from a modest, mostly negative review appeared on Ciao 2001 magazine. Only recently De De Lind and their only record have been re-evaluated, and they’re now considered a fundamental piece in the Italian progressive scene.

Destruction Unit – Eclipse [Reissue/2010] LP (FDH)

Upon its release in 2010, Eclipse was quite a departure from the synthpunk background that the band was known for, as the band dove deeper into a epic psych rock sound. Uber-limited (100 copies) mixed color vinyl reissue.

Dirty Fences – Ladies Choice 7” (Oops Baby)

“Dirty Fences from New York City sling ‘70s street-level punk rock & roll. Tommy Ramone beat. Harmonies. Tons of vocals. From fast slasher power pop tunes to country ballads to Eddie Cochran style parents­just­dont­understand sex rock and roll, they know their stuff and have a lot of fun with it.”

Drilling For Blasting – How To Play Guitar 7” (Let’s Pretend)

Drilling For Blasting is a Chicago two piece band that rocks like a three-and-a-half piece outfit. This is the sort of loud, weird, odd but grooving sort of tunes that shows their deep roots and love for both post punk angular rhythms and twisted Beefheart blues.

Steve Earle – Train A-Comin’ [Reissue/1995] LP (Plain)

Steve Earle – I Feel Alright [Reissue/1996] LP (Plain)

HQ-180 vinyl reissues. Steve Earle’s first record after emerging from artistic struggles, prison, and addiction, 1995’s Train A-Comin’ finds an artist starting from scratch and returning to the very basics of his musical vision. A little bit country, a little bit rock & roll, Steve Earle has bounced between those extremes for years, producing great albums of nearly-straight country and totally-hard rock. On I Feel Alright, though, Earle finally finds a way to blend the styles seamlessly.

The Earls Of Leicester – Earls Of Leicester LP (Rounder)

Recently released on CD – now available on vinyl. The Earls of Leicester features the ”who’s who” of Bluegrass whose music and their very name pays tribute to the contributions to the bluegrass genre made by Lester Flatt and Earl Scruggs. Band members include: Jerry Douglas (dobro) Shawn Camp (guitar, lead vocals), Johnny Warren (fiddle), Charlie Cushman (banjo), Barry Bales (bass), and Tim O’Brien (mandolin).

Fennesz – Venice [2004] 2xLP (Touch)

Special 10th anniversary edition and first time available on vinyl. Gatefold double LP release — 14 tracks. Artwork and photography by Jon Wozencroft. Featuring David Sylvian (vocals) and Burkhard Stangl (guitar). Venice, the fourth studio album by Christian Fennesz, finds electronic music at a crossroads between its early status as digital subculture, and the feeling that there has to be something more, an emotional quality that rises above noise and moves towards melody and rapture.

Flesh Lights – No Longer b/w You Don’t Know 7” (Tristworthy)

Steadily turning heads in the garage rock underground for a couple of years, this new 7” is the band’s first new release in a couple of years after a series of records on 12XU, Super Secret and Thread Pull, along with two previous releases on Twistworthy. Perfectly described as “power -pop with balls”, Flesh Lights continue to rock, roll, and spread the good word of “muscle pop.”

George Edwards Group – Chapter III LP (Drag City)

Chapter III of The George-Edwards Group archives draws from deep in the pockets of their sporadic later embodiment. With their grand ‘70s dreams of Hollywood stardom fading, Edward Balian and Ray George continued to track their winsome muse, perhaps a bit more aggro and with a bit more dolor than they had back in the 38:38 days.

Ghost Knife – Garrote Guarantee 7” (Tristworthy)

Comprised of three guys—Mike Wiebe, Ben “Snakepit” White, and Chris Pfeffer—who have spent time touring the world with the Riverboat Gamblers, J Church, High Tension Wires, Criaturas, and many others, Ghost Knife’s new four-song 7” is a powder keg of frantic punk-pop energy filled with excellent songwriting and punchy, tuneful melodies.

Gnidrolog – Lady Lake [Reissue/1972] LP (4 Men With Beards)

Lady Lake saw Gnidrolog continue to develop their unique form of progressive rock, which had critics compare the band to cohorts such as Gentle Giant and Van Der Graaf Generator.

Keiji Haino/Jim O’rourke/Oren Ambarchi – Only Wanting To Melt Beautifully Is It A Lack Of Contentment That Stirs Affection For Those Things Said To Be As Of Yet Unseen LP (Black Truffle)

Presenting the entire first set of the trio’s March 2013 concert at Tokyo’s legendary SuperDeluxe, Only Wanting To Melt Beautifully Away Is It A Lack of Contentment That Stirs Affection For Those Things Said To Be As Of Yet Unseen is their fifth release and blows the instrumental palette wide open for a single continuous piece focused on acoustic strings, synth, flute and percussion. Featuring one of Haino’s most delicate and moving recorded vocal performances, the opening section of the record takes the form of a spare duet between O’Rourke’s 12-string acoustic guitar and Haino’s kantele (a Finnish variant of the dulcimer), behind which Ambarchi provides a hovering backdrop of wine glass tones.

Handsome Jack – Do What Comes Naturally LP (Alive)

Recently released on CD – now available on vinyl. Produced by Zachary Gabbard of the Buffalo Killers and featuring Bob Nave (of the legendary Lemon Pipers) on Hammond organ, among others, Do What Comes Naturally seamlessly flows through deep dark mid-tempo boogies, smoky upbeat burners, and soulful feel-good rockers all with a natural ease.

Terrance Hannum – Via Negativa LP (Ultech)

Via Negativa is the first solo album for Utech Records by visual artist and Locrian member, Terence Hannum. Incorporating voice and organ, Hannum creates a world where time slows and sound is reduced to the steady pulse of the universe.

Heat Leisure – III/IV LP+CD (Thrill Jockey)

Heat Leisure is a collective featuring the Pontiak brothers along with Greg Fox (Guardian Alien, Liturgy, Ben Frost), Alexandra Drewchin (Guardian Alien, Eartheater), and Steve Strohmeier (Beach House). The group takes a freewheeling approach to psychedelia with obvious nods to Amon Düül II, Can and the Grateful Dead.

Iceage – Plowing Into The Field Of Love 2xLP (Matador)

Recently released on CD – now available on vinyl. Channeling the rage and emotion of their tempestuous early releases into finely honed musicianship, Plowing Into The Field Of Love features piano, mandolin, viola and organ atop Johan Suurballe-Wieth s razor-sharp guitars and the lolloping, synchronized rhythm section of Jacob Tvilling Pless and Dan Kjær Nielsen. The record has a clear, uncompressed sound, and Elias Bender Rønnenfelt s desperate vocals are out front, nakedly accountable for the words.

Ides Of Gemini – Old World New Wave LP (Sige)

Old World New Wave is the second full length from Ides of Gemini, the follow up to 2012’s Constantinople. “Processional doom, [with] ethereal female harmonies and high-strung riffs [that] incite head-bowing, not –banging.” – SPIN

Jeff The Brotherhood – Dig The Classics LP (WB)

A self-produced EP of covers. Brothers Jake (guitars, vocals) and Jamin Orrall (drums) have chosen six of their favorite songs to include on Dig The Classics including Pixies’ “Gouge Away,” My Bloody Valentine’s “Come In Alone,” Teenage Fanclub’s “Mad Dog 20/20,” and Beck’s “Totally Confused.”

Kayo Dot – Coffins On Io LP (The Flenser)

Released last week on CD – now available on vinyl. Led by founding member Toby Driver (Secret Chiefs 3), Kayo Dot emerged in 2002 from the ashes of Boston, MA, metal group Maudlin Of The Well. Since then, Driver has led Kayo Dot through lineup changes and stylistic shifts: from traditional metal, to atmospheric, avant-garde metal; and now with their new album Coffins on Io, to the bats-in-your-belfry hard rock of Sisters Of Mercy intersecting with Peter Gabriel-era Genesis, Scritti Politti and early Roxy Music.

The Klitz – Sound Of Memphis ’78 7” (Spacecase)

Recorded by Alex Chilton and Sam The Sham in one three-hour blast in the summer of ‘78, Sounds Of Memphis is the first archival Klitz release. Widely regarded as Memphis’ first punk band and championed by Jim Dickinson, The Klitz existed from ‘78 to ’80 and never released any official material during their initial lifespan.

Sondre Lerche – Please LP (Mona)

Recently released on CD — now available on vinyl. Lerche’s new album is brimming with crisp electronic flourishes, bold, economic production, and an infectious new energy and sense of purpose.

Lights – Little Machines LP (WB)

Recently released on CD – now available on vinyl. Third album from the Canadian electro rocker. When Lights first hit the music scene in 2008, she was just a songwriter with a synth and a dream. Her name may have been pluralized but Lights Poxleitner was a one-woman show who played and programmed her own instruments and sang her own lyrics.

Linkin Park – Hunting Party 2xLP (WB)

Released last summer on CD – now available on vinyl. New studio album featuring “Guilty All The Same” and “Until It’s Gone.”

Lo-Pan – Colossus LP (Small Stone)

Recently released on CD – now available on vinyl. Lo-Pan s fourth album, Colossus, is named for the Colossus Of Rhodes — a 96-foot statue constructed in 280 BC to mark a failed siege and the indomitable nature of the city of Rhodes itself. No surprise it’s the Columbus, Ohio, four-piece s most personal album yet and a testament to their growth and survival, as a band and as human beings.

Two years after the split of Bauhaus in 1983, former members Daniel Ash, David J, and Kevin Haskins came together to form Love And Rockets. Combining Bauhaus’s signature gothic sound with new elements of glam rock, pop, and psychedelics, the band developed a cult following throughout the late ’80s. Their debut album Seventh Dream Of Teenage Heaven showcases this divergence of sound, fully embracing a unique combination of dark, hypnotic psychedelics, and synthpop. Available on HQ-200gm black or 150gm opaque blue vinyl.

MC5 – Back In The USA [Reissue/1970] LP (4 Men With Beards)

Back In The USA was the second album by Detroit’s legendary MC5 but the first to be recorded in the studio. Originally released in 1970 this album takes a step back from the raw in your face sound of their classic debut Kick Out The Jams for a more focused, tighter approach.

Mineral – The Power Of Failing [Reissue/1995] 2xLP (Arena Rock)

Mineral – End Serenading [Reissue/1998] 2xLP+MP3 (Arena Rock)

HQ-180gm vinyl reissues of the seminal Texas emo band’s only two full-length albums.

This rare Zamrock album is a blend of psychedelic rock, ethnic psychedelic (with fuzz guitar) and even some soul.

Nightmares On Wax – A Word Of Science [Reissue/1991] 2xLP+MP3 (Warp)

Nightmares On Wax – Smokers Delight [Reissue/1995] 2xLP+MP3 (Warp)

Nightmares On Wax – Carboot Soul [Reissue/1999] 2xLP+MP3 (Warp)

Nightmares On Wax – Mind Elevation [Reissue/2002] 2xLP+MP3 (Warp)

Nightmares On Wax – Mind Elevation [Reissue/2006] 2xLP+MP3 (Warp)

Nightmares On Wax – Thought So… [Reissue/2008] 2xLP+MP3 (Warp)

N.O.W.’s first six albums have been repressed on vinyl. They are the longest serving artist on the Warp Records roster.

Nobunny – Love Visions [Reissue/2008] LP (Almost Ready)

“The mysterious Tucson local (now Oakland, Calfornia), Nobunny, is certainly hitting a chord that’s turning ears all over into fuzzy, pink, and protruding embarrassments. Although, he’s been kicking around the sud bucket for longer that most realize, it’s seems like only recently has he poked his rabbit head up for the rest to take notice. Like a pop machine spewing out a small rivulet of hits, he is not necessarily onto something completely new. Both GG Allin, and The Ramones were touching on the same fizzy button years ago, and the formula of bubblegum fuzz is one oldest socks in the sack, but either way it’s good to see it’s back. Nobunny’s ability to deliver blithesome songs with a maddened and frothy smile is simply brilliant. His bouncy and rollicking style conjures images of dirty bubbles rising over a landscape of unkempt, and insanely catchy hooks that will have the stuffiest of the arm folding camp dancing and acting like idiots within the first couple of chords.”—Brett Cross, Victim Of Time

Of Montreal – Cherry Peel [Reissue/1997] LP (Bar/None)

Of Montreal – Gay Parade [Reissue/1999] LP (Bar/None)

Vinyl reissues of Of Montreal’s first and third albums. “Of Montreal are more like third cousins to the E6 clan; their sound is cohesively pop-oriented and distinctively quaint. The songs are bouncy, keyboard- and vocal-driven gems that collapse barbershop harmonies and well-enunciated, Tin Pan Alley vocalizations with Anglo mid-’60s pop (especially that of the ever-popular Kinks).”

Mike Oldfield – Tubular Bells II [Reissue/1992] LP (Rhino)

Mike Oldfield – The Songs Of Distant Earth [Reissue/1994] LP (Rhino)

Mike Oldfield – Voyager [1996] LP (Rhino)

Mike Oldfield – Tubular Bells III [1998] LP (Rhino)

HQ-180gm reissues now available (some for the first time on vinyl).

Panabrite – Pavilion LP+MP3 (Immune)

Panabrite is Seattle-based musician Norm Chambers. His music evokes the prime work of ambient music’s pioneers, the top tier of kosmische-musik makers, and the more mystical end of the new-age spectrum. He weaves elements from these styles into his own distinctive tapestries, balancing melodic playfulness with compositional rigor.

Pen Test – Interstate LP (Moniker)

Interstate is an examination of the decline of car culture in American civic religion and the loss of its romanticism. Inspired by Kraftwerk’s Autobahn, the album was recorded at Dub Narcotic Studio and mastered by Mikey Young (Total Control, Eddy Current Suppression Ring).

Wilson Pickett – Hey Jude [Reissue/1969] LP (4 Men With Beards)

Hey Jude is the classic 1969 release by Wilson Pickett cut with the Muscle Shoals session crew while Duane Allman added his intense, bluesy guitar to the mix. This album of hard Southern soul features Pickett in top form with his powerful vocals featured on soul tunes such as “A Man And A Half” and “Toe Hold” alongside choice rock covers including the title track and “Born To Be Wild.” HQ-180gm.

Chuck Prophet – Night Surfer LP (Yep Roc)

Recently released on CD – now available on vinyl. Of his new album, Night Surfer, Prophet comments, “This record is loosely conceptual but universal all the same. It’s all about a path forward, about looking around and imagining where we’ll be in 20 years if we just follow that path. And of course, you’ll find a persistent anxiety throughout; we live, after all, in anxious times. As John Murry told me after a first listen, ‘It brings a tear to the eye and blood to the johnson.’” So yeah, a new record, new sound. It’s got it’s own groove with in your face guitars that snake and harmonize. They jangle too, thanks in no small part to special guest Peter Buck.”

Reversed Nature – Into The Limbo LP (Cosmic Eye)

Reversed Nature is a psychedelic jam rock band from Greece. Cosmic Eye presents their debut LP, characterized by a constant lazy flow of sounds, rhythms and voices. Never knowing where it will end, the band travel through long excursions falling somewhere between the drifty murk of space rock, krauty influenced jamming and the psychedelic aspect of some tribal post-punk.

Scalped – Scalped 7” (Warthog Speak)

While not quite as chaotic as their demo tape, this debut EP from San Francisco’s Scalped is nearly as much of a noisy, savage stew of heavy breakdowns tucked between some of the most confusing tornados of violent thrash-head-f**kery this side of sanity. Muscular, inventive hardcore at its finest.

A unique blend of heavy Carpenter electronics mixed with Black Sabbath-esque riffs and even a hint of country.

Sonic Avenues – Sonic Avenues [Reissue/2009] LP (Dead Broke)

Sonic Avenues features members of several Canadian punk/garage acts such as The Steve Adamyk Band and more. This is a deluxe edition remastered reissue of the band’s first full length that’s been out of circulation since 2009. Includes two previously unreleased bonus tracks, available only with the LP.

Spray Paint – Cussin’ 7” (Upset The Rhythm)

Spray Paint is a no wave punk outfit from Austin, Texas. The trio’s buzz-sawing guitars run headlong through labyrinthine tunnels of reverb, chased down by some wildly brain-bashing drums.

The Stray Birds – Best Medicine CD (Yep Roc)

The band – multi-instrumentalists and vocalists Maya de Vitry, Oliver Craven, and Charlie Muench – hails from Lancaster, Pennsylvania. All three are classically-trained musicians who’ve been making music of all kinds since childhood (before they reconnected through the local music scene, de Vitry and Muench first met in middle school orchestra); however, they were also all raised with a steady diet of music ranging from pioneers like The Carter Family and Bill Monroe & His Blue Grass Boys to the joyous invention of The Beatles and The Band, to the groundbreaking artistry of Jimi Hendrix. Vinyl version due November 18.

Yesterday Today Tomorrow is a film in three episodes from 1963 directed by Vittorio De Sica with the beautiful music of Armando Trovaioli. Reprint faithful to the original gatefold release.

Truth & Janey – Erupts! [Reissue/1976] 2xLP (Lion Productions)

Raw, absolutely bone-crushing live recordings from 1976 by one of the finest and heaviest Midwest power trios of all time. This double-LP feature more than 70 minutes of the explosive live hard rock concert experience, including many tunes not on the band’s essential No Rest For The Wicked album.

Recently reissued on CD – now available on vinyl. Underworld’s third album (though some might call it their debut) showcased the limitless possibilities of electronic music. Although born out of club culture, Dubnobass defied the accepted genres of the time – equally suited to the dancefloor and the after party, it was as immersive an experience quaking through bassbins or headphones. Two decades on from its original release, it’s unarguable that the album is one of the most influential British electronic records of all time; a signpost for everything from dance music’s easy relationship with main stages at festivals to the radio/globe-conquering EDM phenomenon.

Various Artists – Let’s Peter Out LP+MP3 (Peter Out)

This is the follow-up compilation to the highly acclaimed The Peter Out Wave (2012), consisting of 13 bands from nine countries. The most notable difference since 2012 is that most of the upcoming post-punk bands today are guitar based. The darker ‘80s influences have grown very popular in the current punk movement and many great new bands have emerged from there. What still makes this music really interesting is that there are plenty of dynamic visions out there who’ve emerged from very different musical backgrounds and subcultures. It just goes to show that dreams of the past will lead you to new directions. Includes tracks from Metro Cult, Veil Of Light, Monument, Moth, TR Human, Cosmetics, and more. White vinyl.

The Innocents is the name of the second album by southeastern Pennsylvania’s Natalie Mering, who performs as Weyes Blood. Its ten songs confront us with a vocalist of rare choral purity; lyrics so emotionally unflinching that they could pierce stone; music rooted in American and British folk, then pulled and stretched at its fringes, like a sweater that’s just begun to unravel. As you sift through her words, you’ll feel something, and you’ll associate those feeling with past experiences that may cause you to associate them with something more, something that affects your own emotional state. The Innocents is akin to the most primal form of expression: elements laid bare, deeply connected to the past, and miles away from anything else you’re likely to hear in music today.

Tim Woulfe – Tim Wolfe’s The Uncouth Swain LP+MP3 (Apollonian Sound)

The Uncouth Swain is an album of existential love songs, Taoist hymns and Alf references filtered through Tim Woulfe’s psychedelic sound. “Melodiously walks in the footsteps of Slowdive.”—Magic RPM Magazine

Cassettes:

Cancers – Fatten The Leeches (Dead Broke)

Produced by Jack Endino, Fatten The Leeches is the first release from former members of Unfun and Dead Dog.

Aaron Dilloway’s characteristic fits of tape swirls and Hong Chulki’s poised turntable outbursts complement and clatter against each other effortlessly. In this live recording made in Oberlin, Ohio, subtle ambient fields and crumbling melodies grow into peaks of rattling chaos.

The second official release by Brooklyn-based artist Roy Werner. Containing no original recorded material, the series of seven pieces functions as an in-depth processing of the sourced ubiquitous pop piece in an attempt at complete removal of connotation and context.

Joseph Hammer – Recorded Live In Los Angeles October 2013 (Idiopathic)

Recorded late at night in a downtown Los Angeles loft, this cassette captures Joseph Hammer’s reel-to-reel sampling at its most intimate and ephemeral. An unlikely and stirring symphony made of spliced selections from a bargain bin CD collection. Crazed.

Maar – Ceto (Umor Rex)

The first full-length release from Maar, the Chicago-based duo of Mike Vallera (Cleared, COIN) and Joseph Clayton Mills (Haptic). Draws on influences that range from drone to dub and from the techno-utopianism of NASA to the retro-futurism of the Russian conceptualists.

Derek Rogers – Visual Echoes (Umor Rex)

An album that moves within a subtle ambience, with a relaxed, contemplative style reminiscent at times of Gavin Bryars’s work. Derek Rogers has released over 60 albums on Bathetic Records, Hausu Mountain, Stunned, 905, and Hooker Vision. He also plays with Lee Noble in Circuit Rider UK.

Unmanned – Ageism (Idiopathic)

Obsessive, delicate sound textures by Kevin McEleney and Nial Morgan, snaking through gritty depths and ascending to vertiginous heights. Mood music for the scourged at heart.

“Until we have a feature film in which Bill Callahan’s words are spoken by the true and deep characters who exist within the songs, the best format will be this lyric book—wait, no, the best format will always be the albums featuring the songs, since they are sung by Bill Callahan, the author and singer, in his own inimitable and completely individual fashion. I Drive A Valence, however, which spans two decades of Smog/Bill Callahan songs, is a fairly unforgettable look-see; in fact, it’s a definitive-yet-concise trip through the mirror, collecting the lyrics to 70 songs and pairing them with 116 dreamy ink-wash images by the man himself. The nuances and ambiguities within plain-spoke expression are at the exquisite center of Callahan’s gift, and the plain fact of words on paper nails them down in a concrete fashion that signals eternity somehow more concretely than sounds in the air can conjure.”

Intense Energy: A Not Like You Fanzine (Note Like You)

Fanzine featuring a mix of punk, hardcore, skating and more. Interviews include JFA, The Faction, Los Olvidados, and Drunk Injuns. Accompanied by a 7″ compilation featuring Huge, The Loud Ones, Stale Phish, Counterattack!, and 97A, some of the best skate rock bands going today.